Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

We urge all parties involved in the present dispute to use the industrial relations machinery available to them and engage with the Labour Relations Commission because this is having a profound impact on the economy, as well as the immediate issue. The purpose of the Bill is to strengthen the joint labour committees and the employment regulation orders. There was a commitment to streamline them but the hotel and catering sector and consequently the electrical contractors launched legal challenges to them. The High Court found the law to be defective. The commitment remains and we will publish the Bill quite soon but I doubt whether the Bill, published or unpublished, would have any impact on the present dispute. I urge those involved to engage with the industrial relations machinery available to them.

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